"How's that pain medicine treating you?" Daniel asked with a smile he didn't feel.
Max snorted, shaking his head. "This ain't the pills. This is just happy to be alive and have pretty women waiting on me. The dose they gave me is barely enough to take the sting away. They didn't seem to factor in that I am about seven inches taller and a hundred pounds heavier than their average male patient. How's that D'Onofrio kid doing? Took one to the gut..." he said, shaking his head.
"In surgery. No updates yet."
"Bet it's a fucking mess in there. Leg too. That fuck was out of his mind shooting off like that."
"Yeah, well he'll be paying for it for the next thirty-someodd years of his life."
"Come on," Max snorted, "we both know he won't last a week once he gets inside. But can't say I'd be mourning his loss. Your girl alright?" he asked suddenly, tone serious. "She was losing it in there. Didn't think she was capable."
"There's a lot of soft underneath that barbed wire," Daniel agreed, looking up at the clock. It was closing in on ten. It was going to be a long ass night. And he had spent way too many overnights in the hospital in his life.
"She still pissed at you?"
"It seems to be on pause, but I'm sure it will come back full force eventually."
"Well, lucky you're a stubborn fuck. For what it's worth, I think she'd be worth the hassle."
Daniel nodded, knowing he was right.
True, it was new. And he might have only known her for a couple of weeks. But that was enough, enough to know there was possibility there. He wasn't a sap. It wasn't love. Nothing that silly and instant. But there was intrigue, there was interest, there was affection. And those were three things he hadn't felt for a woman in a good, long time.
"Heard I'm off the case because of you," Max added, getting his attention again. "I kept my cover until you blabbed. Would have been a hell of a case."
"I'd say I'm sorry," Daniel said with a shrug. "But that'd be a lie."
"Figured as much," Max said with a nod. "Don't hold it against you."
And he didn't.
That was a great thing about Max- he didn't hold grudges.
Part of it was because, unlike Daniel, he wasn't married to his job. He had people and things to go back to when a job blew up. The other part was that it was simply hard to rile him. He stood on what forever seemed to be unshakeable ground. Nothing got to him. It didn't matter how bad shit got, he always took it in stride.
"Knew you needed a win too, man. But I couldn't let you have this one. They mean too much to her."
Max's head cocked to the side, watching his friend for a long minute, eyes intense. "You'd botch a job because it would upset her, huh? Fuck man, you really like this one, huh?"
"She's down there in a fucking skintight blue dress that the chick from Limits brought her," Daniel admitted, shaking his head, trying to keep his desire at bay. He had done nothing but think about her and jerk off for fucking days.
"Hold up," Max said, leaning his head against the bent-upward bed and closing his eyes, "let me just picture that a minute..."
"Picture what?" yet another female voice said from the side and Daniel turned to find a blonde this time- all tits, ass, thighs, and hips, plump in the way that Max liked them, and big brown eyes that were lit up at seeing him. Apparently word got around the floor about a good looking and charming guy who had just had a near-death experience and was looking to flirt around because of it.
"Babydoll, my ring on your finger," Max said, not missing a beat. "Can't you just picture it?" he asked reaching out to take her hand and the woman blushed. A nurse, hardened from all the craziness she had seen in her time, blushed because he took her hand. "It's a good look, right?" he asked when she didn't answer.
"If you want to shut him up," Daniel cut in, trying to ease the girl's obvious discomfort, "I would absolutely sign off on whatever forms you'd need for some heavy sedatives."
To that, the girl laughed, pulling her hand away. "I actually just came in to tell you that your mother called and she and your sister are on their way in from upstate to see you."
"Aw shit," Daniel said, standing and scooting his chair back to where he found it. "I better get the fuck out of here before your mother comes in and screams at me for not taking better care of you," he added, moving toward the hall.
Max smiled, knowing it was the truth. "That's cool. Me and nurse..."